Too Similar #3: Alyssa Milano and Tamara Taylor

A while back, I noted that Eric Stoltz looks a lot like Suzy Amis (or at least very much related to her). The following year, I wrote how Justin Bieber resembles a young Corey Haim. Today, I'm writing about a similarity that I noticed over 6 years ago.

Alyssa Jayne Milano was born in Brooklyn in December 1972. Her breakout role came playing the housekeeper's daughter in ABC's 1980's hit comedy, Who's the Boss? As the snarky, street-smart, heavily-Brooklyn-accented Samantha Micelli. After that show ended, she enjoyed a low-key film career (the Arnie vehicle Commando may still be her biggest film), but most of her work has been in television. She was on Charmed, (the 1990's) Melrose Place, and My Name is Earl. This year, she starred in a show called Mistresses.

As you can tell, she's good-looking. And always has been, no matter what look she tries out.

Tamara Taylor, meanwhile, hails from Canada, the land of hockey players and beautiful women. She was born in September 1970, Her father is black, and her mother is white. And I swear to you all, this lovely female is a dead-ringer for Alyssa Milano.

You may know Ms. Taylor from her role as a regular on Party of Five, but she's had a slew of minor roles on TV shows. Taylor has appeared in less than 5 motion picture, but one of those was a cameo in the Firefly movie, Serenity. This role helped her get onto the show she's most known for now, the part of Dr. Camille Saroyan on Fox's long-running series, Bones.

Now, in looking for images of both these women, I was struck by a couple of things. For one, the resemblance is much clearer when you watch these ladies in videos as opposed to stills. For another, the comparison holds up better when looking at older pix of Alyssa, as her looks are changing a bit.

I don't mean that as a slight, mind you - it's perfectly natural, given that she's over 40 and has become a parent. I've said for a long time that Ms. Milano would look beautiful when she's old and grey, and I'm sure that I'm right about that.

Tamara, however, is two years younger and hasn't had kids.

And look at these pictures! Each woman knows how to work a camera, and both do a fine job of rocking short hair cuts. When you match the styles, they're nearly dead-ringers, despite having different cheekbones.

Also, Alyssa clearly favors closed-mouth smiles, whereas Tamara Taylor likes to show off her beautiful grin. C'mon, Milano, your dentist must feel so dejected!

Beautiful.

Also beautiful.

This similarity struck from the very first time I saw Tamara, and I immediately started calling Ms. Taylor "black Alyssa Milano." I'm multi-ethnic, and despise bigotry, so trust me when I meant that only as observation - and as a compliment. That's like when people say I remind them of Robert Downey, Jr. (they have).

Skin tone aside, the biggest physical difference I could usually see between these two actresses is that Taylor is 4 & 1/2 inches taller than Milano. Looking at so many photos has added more differences that I'm aware of now, but I still think they're damn close!

Seriously, look at the pic below and imagine that you change the skin tone. Does she not look very much like Alyssa.